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Turn (Bodge) A Freehub Into A Fixed Hub


hazza2805

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After splashing out on a front freewheel system I won't be able to afford a new rear hub/wheel for a while.

I searched the forum and there was a topic suggesting that you can tie the sprocket to the spokes to hold it still.

I did this (and it works perfectly- she is solid, and the chain doesn't touch the coat hanger) using a green wire coat hanger (being green is the most essential part of the whole operation of course). It was solid with just one peice of coat hanger, but I used another bit on the other side of the freehub body (can't see in picture) for added security. I just thought I would post up a pic, hoping that it may help other members to visualise what they need to do (my friend could not understand what I was planning to do until he saw the finished thing).

P10108671.jpg

Cheers

Harry

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Well i'll be :lol: i would'nt like to ride it though (N)

Oh my...

Is that the only place the sprocket is attached to the spokes? Maybe you want to tie up the opposite side of the sprocket or evenly around the sprocket to even out the forces?

Only needs to resist the freewheeling force bros, all the actual force is put on the pawls and ratchet like normal. Perfectly good way of doing it, overkill if anything as Ali has mentioned.

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Is that the only place the sprocket is attached to the spokes? Maybe you want to tie up the opposite side of the sprocket or evenly around the sprocket to even out the forces?

Re-read my original post: "It was solid with just one peice of coat hanger, but I used another bit on the other side of the freehub body (can't see in picture) for added security." ;)

It's only gotta overcome the resistive force from the ratchet, no real force going through it :)

Other than potentially giving a little extra slack there's no real problem with doing it, though it's not the most elegant long-term solution :P

Exactly, there is very little pressure on the coat hanger. I thought it may introduce some slack, but I guarantee you this bad boy has literally NO PLAY AT ALL!

The only problem it introduces is added weight, as I currently have a FFW and freehub :(

Totally agree with it not being elegant, but low funds = low tech solutions, and this works perfectly for no £££

(Y)

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my mate did this with a shimano hub using 2 black shoe laces.

You could barely see it and it took some clocking on that it was a freehub at all.

We put an old echo TR freewheel of mine on the front and away he went! it worked too... :D

Another more permanant soloution is the take the spacer out of the back of the driver body (Axle out, Remove the big bolt, driver off, rebuild) and that locks it solid using the cone nuts.

Edited by CC12345678910
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my mate did this with a shimano hub using 2 black shoe laces.

You could barely see it and it took some clocking on that it was a freehub at all.

We put an old echo TR freewheel of mine on the front and away he went! it worked too... :D

Another more permanant soloution is the take the spacer out of the back of the driver body (Axle out, Remove the big bolt, driver off, rebuild) and that locks it solid using the cone nuts.

Literally just going to suggest that! Works really well too.

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  • 1 month later...

I have changed my sprocket size, and whilst I was fiddling about I decided to follow this advice:

Another more permanant soloution is the take the spacer out of the back of the driver body (Axle out, Remove the big bolt, driver off, rebuild) and that locks it solid using the cone nuts.

I thought I would add some photos, to help anyone who plans on doing it in the future. I appologize for poor quality and large size photos, I only had a phone to hand.

Follow these instructions to remove your freehub body.

I needed a 12mm allen key, which was extended using a massive pole. This took a lot of force, one person to hold the wheel, one person on the end of the pole. Could probably do it on your own with a vice.

post-23871-0-99740000-1323512322_thumb.j

Almost there, you can see the washer which needs removing.

post-23871-0-87140200-1323512510_thumb.j

Remove the silver washer, and re-tighten the freehub body into the hub.

post-23871-0-37988700-1323512632_thumb.j

This thing is solid now and will do me fine until I can afford a fixed hub. The freehub is pretty much trash, it only has 15 engagement points, so I was not worried about damage.

Harry

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